http://www.petermclarenfineart.com/

So woodcutting and shed building I’m happy with. IT I’m not.

Leffeboy has helped me out in building a website, he’s known me for at least twenty five years and knows my fear of the screen and keyboard.

I’ve had to use scanned images initially as I’ve lost many of my original slides and I no longer have the paintings, so initially the picture quality will be lower, but I will make of point of taking decent pictures with a DSLR for new paintings.

I’d be keen to hear what you think of its general layout and content.

EDIT , we added a Facebook link, so if you would like any updates on it, click Like please.

Looks pretty decent. Responsive too! And content is first rate…

I quite like it, your art is very impressive indeed, well worth the credit it gets.

Plus you’re a very sexy man. You’re like a man in a gilette razor advert.

And I’m straight.

Quite nice, but a bit boring to me, don’t get me wrong as I like some of your paintings, but it’s not a website for your average internet dweller.

Best of luck though.

Cheers.

FFS. Are you for real??

Can you at least be fat and ugly, just to give give the rest of us a chance?

I liked the site; I’m a fan of simple navigation. Fab content too.

Best of luck.

nice website for the artistic types.

Good site, great art! Needs some MTB cyclist art though…
I’m liking the “brooding artiste in a potting shed” photo. Good work.

Peter, I reckon you might be a bit too educated to be coming touring with me and the elderly gentlemans drinking and cycling club……. 😉

Some very impressive awards, scholarships etc

£7k!

You could almost get a road bike for that!

Nice site.

Cars and Couples suggests you haven’t been to many dogging sights

A Russian pianist I knew said one’s publicity pictures should always be in diapers. Those pics were taken when I was in my early twenties, I’m not such a pretty boy now.

Very nice

Can you at least be fat and ugly, just to give give the rest of us a chance?

Indeed. Some people eh? Talented, driven, great ideas, got a mansion, sexy.
He’s even got a website now!

I bet there’s a few ladies on this forum taking cold showers right now.

Suggestions gladly accepted as well. The idea is to keep it plain, simple, uncluttered and straightforward to navigate. There are lots of fancier ways of navigating the paintings as well but for the moment we’ve steered clear unless that is a bad idea?

I’m not such a pretty boy now.

Oh, you’re taking the **** now. Modest too??

Samuri

I made a mistake, it was just an initial infatuation with your words, your beautiful, humorous words. However, you can’t compete with McHandsomeTalentedSod.

I hope you understand.

The only thing I’d change – and this is a personal thing – is having to scroll down to get to the images… Maybe move the navigation from top centre?

Loving the paintings btw

I totally understand. His charisma, his wood shed, his dungeon. He’s got a fricking rolls royce for christ’s sake.

Nope, you run to him. Be happy.

Maybe move the navigation from top centre?

like a film strip type thing?
and could we get MrsToast to slightly modify the painting behind his head 🙂

I like the site but am a bit confused about what it’s purpose is.

If it is just to showcase your work then it does a great job.

If you are using it as a sales medium then maybe it is a bit too demure – sorry cannot think of a better word to describe it. Are you selling the originals, prints or something else,

I like the simple navigation and swift loading 🙂

He’s got a fricking rolls royce for christ’s sake

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=RZkBbIGwOjw[/video]

It’s maybe just a mobile phone thing… Too much scrolling maybe?

Samurai, I’m not a fair weather admirer… You still got it going on as far as I’m concerned, toots.

It’s maybe just a mobile phone thing… Too much scrolling maybe?

Ah, you see I thought it was easier to scroll down on mobile than to click on thumbnails. Could be wrong

Samurai, I’m not a fair weather admirer.

At least I get his name right you hussy.

Looks pretty good to me.
Is missing the wood sculpture section though.

I would change a few things but nothing drastic. All intended to be constructive:

The typography could do with a little work, the main heading starts very close to the edge of the window, it also comes very close to some of the section headings it could do with a little more space. Maybe make it 2 lines instead of one.

The section headings change position some are ranged left some centred, needs to be consistent.

I would keep the menu heading ranged left rather than centred, helps define a strong boundary and just looks cleaner.

I would also make the images align with the heading of the section rather than have them centred to the browser window.

Is it possible to define a set width for portrait and another for landscape images. There’s a lot of images that are close to being the same width on screen but are fractionally different. it’s visually a bit jarring.

Not keen on the colour change for the contact me screen, theres nothing special about the contacts screen and the colour change give it too much importance.

I would be tempted to have a thumbnail gallery for each section which allows a quickly downloaded overview of the section then the ability to click into the full size images. It’s possible that people will be viewing the site on less than ideal connections (smartphone in a gallery) so loading an overview quickly could be useful.

On a technical point you don’t need to reload the menu every time a new section is loaded. You can build it so that the menu buttons are a constant.

Is missing the wood sculpture section though.

It’s on my to do list.

Thanks camo but I’ve been outgunned. I recognise that.

Helpful stuff muppetwrangler, thanks.

muppetWrangler – great list. Agree with nearly it all especially the image sizing and typography. I’m still a bit unsure about the thumbnail gallery but you may be correct. STW is always the first place to check 🙂

you should sell prints. I’d buy one.
probably a seascape.

Samurai – don’t sell yourself short, sweet cheeks… BN wasn’t right for you anyways.

Helpful stuff muppetwrangler, thanks.

No problem, take from it what you like dismiss the bits you don’t. I’m always in two minds about posting any sort of critique as it can sound unnecessarily harsh when written down.

I’m always in two minds about posting any sort of critique as it can sound unnecessarily harsh when written down.

Nope, detail is great in this case. If you get it right nothing should jar and you should just see the content. Time to tweak (or rather next week)

Good site. But get painting,love your cycling themed paintings but nothings out there for sale at the moment. 🙁

No problem, take from it what you like dismiss the bits you don’t. I’m always in two minds about posting any sort of critique as it can sound unnecessarily harsh when written down.

This is a really helpful testbed, we both felt this would be a great place to see other peoples first impressions, those are the ones that count. if it feels clumsy, folks wont use it.

Good site. But get painting,love your cycling themed paintings but nothings out there for sale at the moment.

This too is helpful. I’ve spent most of my life in front of an easel on my own with only sporadic feedback. I’ve never painted to order, I’ve always gone with what I felt I needed to paint. I’ve been thinking lately about some more cycling paintings from my last couple of tours in the States. The ones on the site were mostly painted in the early 90s, cycling then was the preserve of students and hippies, I imagine there will be a whole different ‘market’ now.

Reminds me of this personal statement. One day I am going to use a line of this in a job interview that I don’t really care for.

I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I have been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, I write award-winning operas, I manage time efficiently.

Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row. I woo women with my sensuous and godlike trombone playing, I can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and I cook Thirty-Minute Brownies in twenty minutes. I am an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru.

Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, I once single- handedly defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious army ants. I play bluegrass cello, I was scouted by the Mets, I am the subject of numerous documentaries. When I’m bored, I build large suspension bridges in my yard. I enjoy urban hang gliding. On Wednesdays, after school, I repair electrical appliances free of charge.

I am an abstract artist, a concrete analyst, and a ruthless bookie. Critics worldwide swoon over my original line of corduroy evening wear. I don’t perspire. I am a private citizen, yet I receive fan mail. I have been caller number nine and have won the weekend passes. Last summer I toured New Jersey with a traveling centrifugal-force demonstration. I bat .400.

My deft floral arrangements have earned me fame in international botany circles. Children trust me. I can hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly accuracy. I once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, and David Copperfield in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. I know the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. I have performed several covert operations with the CIA.

I sleep once a week; when I do sleep, I sleep in a chair. While on vacation in Canada, I successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a small bakery. I balance, I weave, I dodge, I frolic, and my bills are all paid. On weekends, to let off steam, I participate in full-contact origami. Years ago I discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it down. I have made extraordinary four course meals using only a mouli and a toaster oven.

I breed prize-winning clams. I have won bullfights in San Juan, cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka, and spelling bees at the Kremlin. I have played Hamlet, I have performed open-heart surgery, and I have spoken with Elvis.

But I have not yet gone to college.

BN wasn’t right for you anyways

You don’t know that. You don’t know anything. *flounces away in tears*

The site’s good

The art is just fantastic

Saw the Peter Doig show in Edinburgh a few weeks back which was a real eye-opener. Now this. Just awesome.

Totally gobsmacked.

Meh, I don’t know art but I know I like marmite.